Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Has $610,000 Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 116 shares during the period. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mason & Associates Inc increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 3,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.0 %

MS opened at $140.05 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $129.80 and a 200-day moving average of $115.67. The stock has a market cap of $225.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $141.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.